June 2008

June 19, 2008

Are there topics out there that are too hot for museums to handle? Absolutely is the answer that many would give. But what if an exhibition helps people better understand a contemporary issue by examining a similar historical moment? This is certainly the edifying role that museums should play.

Opening in February 2010, Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964 (Cosecha Amarga, Cosecha Dulce: El Programa Bracero, 1942-1964) is such an exhibition. It's gritty and raw and gives audiences a chance to see immigration and labor issues from another perspective--void of the political rhetoric that clouds the controversy today.

Comprised of images shot by magazine photographer Leonard Nadel in 1956, the exhibition documents a little-known chapter in American history, after World War II, when labor shortages threatened small farmers, larger growers, and farm associations in California, Texas, and 25 other states. By the time the bracero project was terminated in 1964, it had become the largest guest worker program in U.S. history, bringing some 4.6 million Mexican nationals across the border to fill short-term labor contracts. But even its own day, the bracero program didn't escape controversy. Exploitation, violations of civil liberties and legal rights were common--not to mention substandard living and working conditions.

"It was grueling, the time spent away from home was difficult, but the opportunity [for these men] to earn money was real. The program was truly bittersweet," says exhibition curator Peter Liebhold of the National Museum of American History.

" . . . come labor for your mother, your father and your brother, for your sister and your lover; Bracero come pick the fruit of yellow. Break the flower from the berry; purple grapes will fill your belly, Bracero . . . and the sun will bite your body, as the dust will draw you thirsty while your muscles beg for mercy . . ."

June 06, 2008

The fashion industry lost one of its icons this week--Yves Saint-Laurent, the French designer best known for creating the Beatnik look, thigh-high boots, Safari jackets, as well as the general democratization of fashion.

Gifted people like Saint-Laurent exude creativity in everything they do--whether designing extraordinary clothing or simply writing a letter to a friend. And while we can't profess to knowing much about the former, we do know a little something about the latter.

Such endeavors are the subject of More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. This is a gem of an exhibit, especially in our world of e-this and e-that. Do you really recall a time when people took pen (ink, crayons, and paint, in this case) to paper to communicate with each other? The missives in the show--from artists such as Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, and Yves Saint-Laurent--surely reflect a different time, but they also demonstrate the expressive energy of the authors, people for whom words alone were not enough.

In a 1970 letter to Alexander Liberman, art director at Vogue magazine, Saint-Laurent literally used the language of clothes as his medium, writing affectionately to Liberman on the space of a traditional Islamic cloak worn by women in Marrakesh, Morocco (where Saint-Laurent owned a home). The bold but minimalistic patterns in the background complement the simplicity of the author’s heartfelt message.

If you have just a slight voyeuristic curiosity about this and other personal notes from the exhibition, check out the book (of the same name), very eloquently written by Smithsonian curator--Liza Kirwin.

More Than Words will travel the country until summer 2009. Catch it in a city near you!